Carnations tor Pot Culture 



given an abundance of air night and day. The carnation never takes kindly 

 to a close atmosphere. This matter of ventilation and watering is undoubt- 

 edly the keynote to success in flowering carnations in pots. 



When the shoots lengthen to five or six inches, they should be stopped. 

 There are no set rules as to this operation, as each variety must be observed 

 and treated according to its growth. Some may require pinching twice or 

 thrice ; others only once. During a cold season, less pinching will be re- 

 quired than during a warm, moist period, when growth is more rapid. 



By the end of June, plants will be ready for the final shift, using the same 

 compost, to which add coarse ground bone ; also a sprinkling of soot over 

 the drainage crocks. Six to eight-inch pots may be used, three or four plants 

 being put into the larger pots. When potted, the plants should be staked, 

 and then placed in frames, on beds of coal ashes, to keep worms out of the 

 pots. By the middle of August, the pots will become filled with roots, and 

 the plants may be occasionally fed with manure water, or mulched with a 

 compost, as hereinbefore stated. Careful attention to w-atering is required 

 during the summer months. A syringing twice each day during bright 

 weather will promote a fresh, vigorous growth, and help to keep down red 

 spider and green fly. From the ist to the 15th of October should see the 

 plants in winter quarters, which should be a clean, bright, airy house, with 

 top and side ventilation, that should be kept on at all favorable times. Car- 

 nations should never be kept in a close atmosphere. They need a constant 

 circulation of air. As soon as housed, fumigate the plants with tobacco 

 smoke, or XL-All, and repeat the fumigation every week, until the flower 

 buds show color. If large blooms are desired, all buds, save terminals, should 

 be removed ; but a better plan is to take out the terminal and pinch ofT all 

 but the strongest three buds on each shoot. By this treatment, thirty to 

 fifty blooms may be grown to a pot, in the case of some varieties. A tem- 

 perature of 45 to 48 degrees at night, and 55 to 60 degrees during the day, 

 will maintain the plants in a hardy, growing condition, and keep them longer 

 in flower than warmer treatment. 



Painting the steam pipes twice each week with a solution of Rose Leaf 

 Extract, Nicotocide, or some other of the various concentrated tobacco ex- 

 tracts, will prove efficient in keeping down green fly and also largely hold 

 thrips in check. Add enough water to the extract to reduce it to the consis- 

 tency of thin paint, then brush all the pipes with the solution. The more pipe 

 surface that is covered with the extract, the sooner will the insects be de- 

 stroved. 



195 



